FCACC Involvement

Local Coverage Determinations - HOW THE FL CHAPTER ACC GETS INVOLVED TO GET PATIENTS THE RIGHT CARE AT THE RIGHT TIME

Medicare uses a variety of mechanisms to set policies for coverage of services. At the national level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may issue a National Coverage Determination (NCD). Medicare administrative contractors (MAC) may issue Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) or may choose to cover services or therapies on a case-by-case basis. If an NCD or LCD does not exist, it does not simply mean that Medicare will not pay for the service.

When national coverage has not been specified in NCD, MACs may choose to provide coverage for a service through an LCD. An LCD may be written in a manner that provides broad coverage, coverage with certain restrictions, or non-coverage. MACs develop LCDs through a process that is less formal than that used to develop an NCD. That process includes expert feedback from designated physician representatives. In Florida these include our CAC Representatives listed about who attend three formal meetings per year and consult with our carrier, First Coast Service Options.

Additional Tools for Practices
This tool provides current and draft local coverage determinations (LCDs), when they exist, for Medicare-covered procedure codes. Not every procedure code is covered by an LCD. For previous versions of an LCD, refer to the CMS Medicare coverage database. Click here for the tool.

Heart House has developed a network of CAC representatives from across the nation that meet as a group to review trends and analyze issues. The chair of the Third Party Reimbursement Committee is active at the national level through meetings and constant communication with colleagues.

National ACC has a web portal dedicated to practice issues. See this link for in-depth issues.